1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally directed to skilled gaming and more specifically to a method of determining skill level in a tournament setting.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many games of chance that require substantial skill and knowledge to be able to play well such as poker style games, Bridge, Euchre, Hearts and Cribbage. Even though the game process is dependent on chance, through the random dealing of cards, a knowledgeable and skilled player is, over time, usually more successful than the unskilled competitor. For instance, the skill of a poker player is usually gauged by the amount of money the player has won by the end of a session and not by how many times the player has had a winning hand. This monetary success depends on the betting strategy of the skilled player, which includes the choice of not playing bad hands, as well as, betting appropriately on good hands. In the short term, the elements of chance may predominate but skill plays a substantial and defining role in the final outcome. In addition to the chance elements introduced by the dealt cards, there is a significant amount of unpredictability introduced by player interaction that adds to the play and characteristics of each game. Players act and react accordingly using their skills to allow them to control or minimize these unpredictabilities. Most skill games have unpredictabilities that form the basis for the application of skill sets and judging criteria. When a player has control over and can react to unpredictabilities then these do not constitute elements of chance.
Skill has several definitions and interpretations, all of which conclude that an activity is skilful if a player can significantly affect the outcome of play as a result of their own actions. Examples of the skills required for playing various games include knowledge of game rules and theory, strategic planning, organizational skills, knowledge of game mathematics (card and betting odds), money management, intelligence, logic, discipline, game adaptability, psychology, manipulation, deception and bluffing and long and short term memory.
In many card games, the elements of chance are introduced by the shuffling and the random dealing of the cards. It is possible through this process alone for a player to receive an unbeatable hand in the first instance and no matter what application of skill takes place the outcome cannot be significantly altered by the application of skill or player action. In the short term, pure chance can succeed. Hence most card games are defined as games of mixed chance and skill and are gambling games. Skill, over the long term, does however dominate play for the most part.
In prior art network-based game systems, where players compete head to head against a computer, it is relatively simple to have all competitors in a given tournament play an identical hand and compare the outcome. The player who scores the highest score under the same playing conditions becomes the winner. This is the scoring basis for many of the skill games played on the Internet presently. It can be applied to games of mixed chance and skill, however this environment is sterile and lacking the player interaction that accounts for much of the skill in playing poker and other similar games. The normal characteristics and playability of the game are not maintained. For example, in the case of video poker, the only skill set that usually comes in to play is the knowledge of the law of probability and the player cannot significantly affect the outcome of the game.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of determining skill level in a tournament game setting.